The Arkansaw traveler., 1887-05-28

ta f iaAw has such tired cxnrussiom Gs c0nntanance that it would appear to | 6n only fair, especially In view of the dispruportion of burden to bearer. that places be changed for time. l But besides the human plavthings. there are puzzles to be put. together or strung into certain shapes, gor- geous glass marbles to roll about, balls ! with strings attached, that they may not be lost, and colorCl blocks with which to build wonderful houses, bridges and towers; diminutive iunks to pull about on the floor and toy mirrors in which to scan small, yel- low features and narrow black eyes. The abacus, or mechanical counter. Is placed in the hands of the youth at a very early age, and 1t Is wonderful to
 Americans how quickly mathematics arc mastered in this manner hy littlc fellows hardly knee-high.
 Chinese boys from eight to twelve years of age play an odd game with sticks of wood about three feet long. X stick Is grasped near the middle and thrown sideways, the object being to cross it upon another stick lying upon the ground. The secret of the game and the points to he made have never been mastered by the American boys who hang about the outskirts of Chinatown. The small Californian votes it very dull play, and cannot see what there is in it to arouse the enthusiasm of the youthful heathen.
 There is Chinese game, however, that never fails to arouse the interest and envy of tho white boys.
 It is played with a loaded cork be- stuck with feathers. The game Is to keep the cork in the air, The first player throws up the shuttlecock. and before it again reaches the earth he twists his foot and gives the dcscend- ing object kick with his heel, which sends il up into the air, sometimes as high as twenty feet. When il de- scends again he tries 10 keep 1t within range of lis heel as long as possible. but the play soon fails to he exclu- siye; other boys standing anxiously about manage to get kick at 1t. send ing 1t away from the first player. who then joins the outsiders in general i scramble to gain possession. Some times in the heat of the play. when the crowd is punched together. the shuttlecock is struck by the hand, but i that is not allowable unless it is in danger of reaching the ground before the heel can strike 1t. Expert players 1 keep their hands in their sleeves. hit l ting the feathery object only with the heel, and thus keeping il from. the ! gronnd for hours at time. Great skill k necessary for this game, and where American boys have under taken to play it with the heathcn they have always cut a sorry figure. ! When kite-nying is to be collsid- cred, the Chinese at any age are always children. Old men take as keen delight in sailing paper dragons and birds as boys of ten. But this does not detract from the pleasure of 1 the boys, who unwind the kite string and watch their cherished toy float away with an interest that flags not gswith each successful aerial flight. More Chinese kites are flown by [ American boys in San Francisco than 1 in any other city in the United States, 1 but one is not often afforded the spec taclc of Celestial youth flying n kite even in this cosmopolitan place, but they are usually sent up from the roofs of buildings out of view from i the street.
 Top spinning is n tavorltc nmusc- meni. and in this the Chinese are ex- pcrts. The length of time in which they can keep the humming object in motion is quite remarkable.
 A new element in Chinese life here Is the gradual adoption of American habits, costumes and religion by the younger female class. Tine Chinese maiden of the season bangs her hair, wears belts and boots, and coInpro- mises the costumes of celestial mammas and aunties in every way possible except by discarding it down l right, and in a few cases this has actually been done. One reason for the boots. belts and i,angs is found in the association of young girls. after fashion, with American children of their own sex, chiefly through the medium of the Sunday and week day schools supported by the religious societies here.
 Where Chinese girls have been so . untrue to the traditions of their race as to appear in the full costume Of the white aliens" they have usually been at once set outside the pale of Chinese social life, and the scandalizcd relations have reliDquished all claims on them to the white educators who have taken their minds and souls in charge.